Day 3 - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Well wouldn’t you know it.  I no sooner started this project and my computer quit on me.  It just decided to stop booting up!  Bummer.  So I thought today would be a good day to investigate a few more of New York’s great libraries (spent a morning at the Humanities building last week) and use the computers there.  But of course…there was a big “Closed on January 18th” sign on the door.  Should have thought of that.  It is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

But since it’s such a beautiful day out, all is not lost.  It’s almost 50 degrees and sunny today.  Great day for another walk.  Right around the corner I found Bryant Park - it was on my list for later this week but there’s no time like the present.

 

It took me a few seconds but I realized as soon as I saw the park that I had been here before.  It think it was my very first trip to NYC.  I sat with a friend near the statue of the namesake for this park and had a cool drink on a warm day.  The place was hop’n with spring time hope then.  Today it was packed with people taking advantage of the FREE skating rink and great (kids) carousel.  There’s a heated tented area to put on your skates, get a snack, hang out and just enjoy friends and family that everyone can use for - you got it - FREE.  I took a walk through and soaked in the happy energy - the area was full of families enjoying the holiday together.

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On the other side of the rink there is this very cool 2 story structure that looks like a restaurant…because…it’s a restaurant (Celcius - see in photo above).  But here’s what’s really interesting.  On January 25th they tear the whole thing down!  I only know this because when I sat down on one of the leather couches nestled under these great cozy heat lamps, a hostess came over to take my drink order not knowing she was about to get grilled ;-D.  She was a fountain of information.  I also found out that in the summer time you can see movies on a big screen that goes up where the skating rink is now.  How cool is that?

I sat in my toasty warm spot for a while, sipped on my hot cider and felt warmed by the great energy swirling around the park.  Then feeling like I had accomplished my goal for the day, I started to walk home.  As soon as I stepped out on the sidewalk I realized the energy had suddenly spilled out around the entire area (at least that’s how it seemed).  There were people, cabs, cars and even bicycles absolutely swarming everywhere.  Lines of people were queued up at virtually every intersection to board tour buses.  At one point I had to literally JUMP out of the way of a man on a bike that was coming straight at me.  The funny part was he said, “thank you” as he zipped past me and I thought, “Really!!  Was there another option.”  I don’t think either of us would have liked plan B which would have included me in some awkward position on his handle bars - LOL

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Luckily on my way home I found another little respite called Herald Square Park.  It’s really a section of road that has been closed off the car traffic, greened up and turned into a great little mini oasis.    Right across the street there’s another smaller park called Greenly Square.  They meet up like a bow tie (because they’re both actually triangle shaped) and create a place where you can get some peace in the middle of what today seems like out of control mayhem.  Actually, I found out that this cool little spot is often used as the quintessentially “New York” back drop for films, photo shoots and promotional events.  So maybe you’ve already seen it too!

I parked there for a while watching the shoppers pour in and out of Macy’s and dozens of other stores and restaurants in the 34th Street District while listening to the surprising number of birds doing their thing…and the parade of cars and buses cruise by…the birds…the cars…no the birds…the sounds were a confused jigsaw of nature and big city noise.  Strangely soothing actually.

There are so many great parks - big and small - dotted all around New York City.  Much more green space than than I ever imagined (even outside of Central Park).